Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/340369 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Citation: 
[Journal:] Borsa İstanbul Review [ISSN:] 2214-8469 [Volume:] 23 [Issue:] 2 [Year:] 2023 [Pages:] 350-367
Publisher: 
Elsevier, Amsterdam
Abstract: 
This study investigates the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and dividend policies, considering the moderating role of audit quality. Based on data for Western European listed companies (leaders in ESG revolution) over the period 2010-2019, panel regression analyses show a significant positive relationship between ESG and dividend payouts. Thus, companies with strong ESG practices prove their stakeholders' and shareholders' orientation, maintaining their dividend payments. However, involvement in high-quality ESG practices slows dividend growth. Audit quality has also a negative moderating effect on ESG-dividend links, prevalent at the firms whose financial audit is conducted by Big Four auditors, with no statistically significant results for ESG assurance quality. The findings are robust to sensitivity analyses based on alternative measures and estimation techniques. These results have implications for investors, management, analysts, and policy makers, providing significant lessons for companies and markets concerned about extending their ESG policies.
Subjects: 
Audit quality
Dividend payout policy
ESG
Western Europe
JEL: 
G35
M14
M42
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.